Mad Genius Series
by Duplex Prower
Summary: With Lex and Antwon now back, and Lee finding his purpose, everything seems to be going well. But as Lex comes to see his family, he finds out that they are taken by Dr. Eggman himself. Now he joins forces with Sonic and the team to rescue them.
1. The Return Home

**Mad Genius**

** Chapter One: The Return Home**

_It was two hours after the two foxes had returned onto their plane of existence and had already made plans. Lex was heading towards Nadira to greet his family. Antwon wanted to rush back to the Great Fox and finally get to his 'home' ship. And Lee finally found his place for living. Lee asked Vixene out and he decided to continue working on the Star Fox team. He didn't have a past, but he was determined to have a great future. As for Lex, his ambitions were simple; get back home._

Lex arrived at the Nadira Air Force base and presented his Star Fox badge. The air patrol let him through and he called a taxi to take him onto Sapphire Drive. 'This is going to stir up some old memories.' Lex thought as the taxi arrived on the curb of his old house. He paid the raccoon and then walked onto the street. He saw his house near the entrance of the neighborhood and then smiled. Memories were flashing through his head, particularly the one about his mother and sister playing in the yard. He finally reached the front door and knocked onto it. "I'm coming, hold on." a female voice called out. Lex waited at the door for two minutes before it opened. "Hey sis I…" Lex began, but then noticed that it wasn't Violet. There was an orange vixen with icy blue eyes staring right at Lex. "May I help you?" she asked. Lex cocked an eyebrow and then decided not to say anything smart. "I should be asking you that." Lex replied and walked right past her.

He walked to the den and noticed a two-tailed fox watching TV. "Hey baby, who was it?" the fox asked. He turned around and saw Lex standing at the entrance of the den. "Bro?" he called out. Lex smiled, "Yeah, it's me." he answered and walked towards the fox. The fox got up and hugged Lex. "Violet and I thought you were… dead." he stated lowly. "Tails, now you know it takes a lot to take down your big brother." Lex said and laughed. The two broke apart just as a vixen was coming down the stairs. "Lex, you're alive!" the vixen proclaimed and hugged Lex. 'They sure do love hugging.' he thought. When she let go, Violet sighed, "Where were you? The Star Fox team said you were missing, and I thought… they were trying to cover up some other story." she said softly. Then Lex's attention turned towards the vixen that had opened the door for him.

"Hey Tails, who is she?" he asked nodding towards the vixen. Tails walked up to the vixen and kissed her lightly. "This is my fiancé. We've been engaged for three weeks now. I met her on one of my missions with Sonic." Tails answered proudly. The vixen walked up to Lex and put out a hand. "I didn't properly introduce myself yet. My name is Trixy Venice." she greeted. Lex shook her hand and smiled, "Well, get ready to enter the family." he remarked. Lex already felt the presence of home around him. He had felt like he was away for years. When he was inside of Lee, he was still conscious, so he could see everything going on. He saw the dream that Lee had as well of Lex and Pyra being married. Unfortunately for him, when the two bodies separated, Lex started off with the exact memory he left with, so he didn't remember any of the missions or the dream. Lex walked outside onto his porch and then looked out onto his neighborhood.

Suddenly something struck him; it was a very funny feeling. He didn't know what it was, but something was telling him it was a person. 'Pyra…' he thought and held his chest. It seemed to be burning somehow. He kneeled on the porch as his chest continued to burn. 'What is this?' he asked himself. The burning in his chest intensified and burned like he was thrown into an oven. It felt like it was tearing him in half. 'Mom… help me…' he thought as he began to choke. Tails walked out of the front door and immediately noticed Lex kneeling on the ground. "Lex, what's wrong?" he asked quickly. Suddenly the pain subsided and it disappeared. Lex tried to get up, but his legs were too weak. "I'm fine, just a little exhaustion." he coughed. But he knew it was something else. 'Pyra has something to do with this.' he thought. There was no way it was just coincidence that he would think about her so randomly. Or… so intensified. Just like he had done at that moment. Even though he thought that Pyra had back stabbed him, he was taught to handle his problems up front and personal.

Lex decided to go to Pyra's house and call it off officially. He walked over to her house and raised his hand to knock on her door. Suddenly his phone began to ring and he answered it. "Hello?" he greeted. "Lex, we have come to a decision. It's actually an interesting plan." Fox remarked. Lex was caught into suspense, "What is it?" he asked. "We have made different divisions for the Star Fox team. There a lot of options and I'm still going through them all to correctly rank everyone in their rightful position." Fox informed. "Sounds creative, hope you figure it out soon." Lex remarked. "Well, later on today, I'm calling a meeting to tell everyone their status. So remember, come to the meeting." Fox advised. "Alright, I'll be there, see you soon Fox." Lex confirmed.

He hung up his cell phone and began knocking on the door. He waited a few seconds before he heard something. "Be there in a minute." a female voice called out. 'This is it, the moment of truth. Lex, you can do this.' he thought. The door opened in front of him and a grey feline with royal blue eyes looked back at him. Her mouth began to open in awe as she continued to look at Lex. "Lex?" she called out. Lex cleared his throat as he thought about what he was going to say. "Hello Pyra, how are you?" he asked. She shook off her daze and tried to look away from him. "What are you doing here?" she asked lowly. It wasn't in a sense of anger, but as if in shame. "I just came over to talk. What I did to you was not right, even if you did cheat on me… and I wanted to apologize… I'm sorry Pyra." he said. Though the apology was clean, the hesitation was clear; Lex still had feelings for her.

Pyra refused to look at Lex and looked at the ground, "Lex… you left me. You didn't even give me a chance…" she said lowly, but then paused. It seemed like she was about to cry, but she tried her best to battle her feelings. 'Why? Why do I feel like this?' she asked herself. The battle was a serious one and she had either two choices, lose to the overwhelming sickness of her feelings, or keep battling and stand her ground. She was currently losing the battle. Lex saw a tear roll down her cheek before she completely turned around with her back facing him. Lex saw her quivering and tried to put his hand on her shoulder. But he quickly decided not to when he saw the condition she was in. "Pyra…" he began to say, but Pyra put up her hand to stop him. "Lex… maybe you should go. This isn't the best time for me. Just… give me some time to think." she said lowly and walked back into her house. Pyra slowly closed the door as Lex looked stunned. "Goodbye… Pyra…" he whispered to himself. He walked off of her porch and slowly began walking to his house. Pyra moved the curtain and looked out of her window. 'The thing is… I still love you.' she thought.

_The next hour…_

Lex had decided to go to the Great Fox to discuss his new occupation. He boarded on the Great Fox with the help of Rita and her Arwing. "Thanks for the lift, Rita." Lex said gratefully. Rita smiled, "No prob, Lex. Just helping out." she replied. The two continued to walk through the corridors and entered the meeting room. He recognized Fox, Falco, Slippy, Peppy, and Antwon sitting at the table. But he noticed two other orange foxes standing next to a wall talking. One of the orange foxes was the one he had split with at the base in Corneria; but he didn't know his name. The other orange vixen he had never seen before. She looked a lot like Fox with a slender figure. The new vixen stopped talking with the other fox and smirked at Lex, "Hi, I'm Star McCloud, Fox's twin sister." she introduced. The orange fox looked at Lex and examined him, "I'm Lee, just in case you forgot. By the way, I didn't catch your name before you left the base. What is it?" he asked politely. The grey vulpine stood straight and looked him straight in the eye, "I'm Lex Prower." he greeted. "Well Lex, nice to finally meet you." Star remarked. "Same here." Lex replied. Fox stood up and cleared his throat. "Alright team, I have made an organized chart for everyone's new job." he informed.

"Falco, you are an Ace Pilot, your job consists of expert handling of the Arwing, giving orders to small groups of men, and the first one available to infiltrate any base." Fox exclaimed. "Sweet!" Falco yelled. "Slippy, you are the Technician, your job is to make better and faster models of the Arwings. Once in awhile you can make a new invention. Also you read us any technological weak spot an enemy has." Fox explained. "Fine. Can do." Slippy stated. "Peppy, you are the Coordinator, you check and download maps for us and send them to our GPS navigators if you are not flying in an Arwing." Fox instructed. "Nothing wrong with that." Peppy replied. "Lee, you are an Elite, you go onto ground combat and lead up to five men in a squad. You infiltrate bases and retrieve information for us. The same job goes for Rita and Star." Fox informed. "Right." the three foxes replied in unison. "Lex, you are a Detective, you go around and find information for the team and act as any other detective would." Fox advised. Lex shrugged his shoulders, "I'll do my best." he remarked. "Antwon and I are Commanders, we handle the Arwing, the Landmaster Tank, and we test the new inventions. Plus we can lead a large group of soldiers in a squad. Basically, we're the leaders." he said.

"I like this new order." Falco said cheerfully. Slippy rolled his eyes, "You would like anything that's free." he whispered. Unfortunately for him, Falco heard him and clenched his fists, "Why you…" he began to say, but noticed Fox pulled out a chart. "What are we waiting for, guys? Let's go and find something to do." Fox ordered. All of them saluted and began to leave. "Wait, I almost forgot, here are your badges." Fox announced and held out a couple of badges. Everyone walked over to Fox and took their badges. When Lex went to go get his badge, he thought about the new job he now had. He took the badge from Fox's hand and examined it. It was a silver metal plate structure cut in a design. On the front of it was a picture of a furry walking with a trench coat and a hat covering its face. The furry was walking alone on a sidewalk with a wide building in the background. On the bottom of the badge read 'Star Fox Detective.' he thanked Fox and then looked around the Great Fox.

Lex noticed that things had been upgraded in the ship since he had been unconscious. There was a swimming pool and Jacuzzi room, an improved rec room, and a larger command room. He also noticed that there were a lot more quarters in the ship. But his room was still in its place. The doorplate read 'Lex Prower.' He opened the door and looked around. His room was blue and grey, like he had requested. He saw a grey Star Fox jacket with a blue Star Fox symbol on the back. "Man, I can't believe I didn't get a chance to wear this.' he thought. He continued to look around and found his Star Fox uniform. 'I never saw any of this stuff. When I get back to Nadira, I'll wear it.' he thought. He continued to look around and noticed all of the stuff that he had missed out on. The boots, the scarf, even the com link helmet looked cool to him. Mainly because he had gotten it customized. But he had not worn it, so it made it very new to him.

He examined the dresser and found keys to an Arwing. It was a sliver key with a blue and grey tag on it. The tag read 'GM' and Lex then remembered that he had requested an Arwing called the Grey Mist. "I'm one lucky fox." Lex snickered. He took the keys and put them into his pocket. He then looked further into his room and found a large package. 'This is the package I didn't want to open until later.' Lex thought. Remembering how he almost lost his life, he decided to see what was in it now. He sat down on his bed and began to cut open the package. What he found in it made him drop the box cutter that he was holding and almost made him drop the box. There were at least eight hundred trillion credits in the box. Six million credits alone could take care of one furry. "My dad saved up all this money, for the family?" he asked himself. He couldn't help but smile; the thought of buying lots of things at once overjoyed him. He then came to a conclusion on what he should do with the money. He stuffed a few trillion credits in his wallet and then packed the rest of it up. Then he walked to his Arwing and smiled while looking at it. "Baby, you need a tune up and a new customized body." he said to the Arwing.

He hopped inside it and then took the keys out of his pocket. He put the key in the ignition and then turned them. The Arwing came to life and then sucked the key into it. "Activation Code" it demanded bluntly. "Nadira" he said in a serious tone. "Welcome Lex Prower, official owner of Grey Mist, enjoy your arwing" it replied. It was now an automated button vehicle. Then the arwing began to get out of its locks. He undocked from the Great Fox and began to fly towards Nadira. 'Oh yeah, wait till I tell the others. They'll be in such a shock.' he thought happily. He continued to fly towards Nadira and twenty minutes later he arrived on Sapphire Drive. He jumped out of the cockpit and ran towards his house. He unlocked his door and then wondered how could he hold himself from telling the great news already. "Violet, Tails, Trixy, I have something to show you guys." he blurted out. But he noticed no one was in the house. He looked around the place, but didn't see anybody. Suddenly he saw something in the corner of his eye and pulled out his Desert Eagle. He aimed it carefully around him to cover his perimeter, 'I don't like the way this looks.' he thought. He saw the same thing again and was about to fire, when he realized that it was in his house.

As if it came out of pure air, a blue figure stood in front of Lex and had its arms crossed. Lex jumped from the blue figure to get some distance, but a little out of fright too. "There you are, I've been looking everywhere for you." the figure stated. Noticing that the blue figure was not a threat, Lex put down his weapon and put it back into his holster. Lex looked at the blue figure more closely to try and recognize it. It was a blue furry with huge spikes on its back and it had green emerald eyes. It had on white gloves with a white T-shirt and blue jeans. It wore red sneakers with a white strip in the middle of each of them. "Who are you?" Lex asked. The figure sighed, "I keep forgetting that this planet hasn't heard of me, I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, the fastest thing alive. I can run at the speed of sound." he said in a tone as if those things were supposed to jog his memory. Lex then remembered Tails telling him about the blue hedgehog before he had left to board the Great Fox.

Lex looked stunned, "Well… what do you want with me? Where's Tails?" he asked. Sonic began to tap his foot on the ground, showing that he was impatient. "That's what I'm here to talk to you for. My arch nemesis has captured your brother, his fiancé, and your sister. He has been terrorizing the whole Lylat system for awhile now. He is planning on taking over the whole galaxy now." Sonic answered. Lex, looking more confused, then scratched his head, "So… who is this guy?" he asked curiously. Sonic stopped tapping his foot and then looked at his watch, "Well, he's been through a lot of name changes over the years, but right now we call him Dr. Eggman." he replied. "Well you can count me in; no one captures my little brother and sister and gets away with it." Lex remarked and then ran out the door. Sonic ran in front of him in a flash and then put his hand in front of him, "Hold on, we just can't fight him, we're going to need some help. I need to get Knuckles and Amy." he proposed.

'I can't believe we have to get that girl.' Sonic thought in anguish. Lex looked at the hedgehog with a confused look, "Why don't we go there now? I mean, if we waste more time, wouldn't this so called Dr. Eggman roboticize them?" Lex asked. Now that Sonic thought about it, the roboticized theme seemed to blow away after the first Dr. Robotnik was defeated. "Actually, he doesn't do that, the other doctor did that. But that's not the point; and it's pretty hard to explain. He has made four deadly creations that can actually match their designated targets power and thoughts. Like complete negative copies. He doesn't need to roboticize anymore." Sonic explained. Quickly noticing that Lex was about to have another brainstorm, he just pushed Lex along towards his Arwing. "Just follow me and keep up." Sonic demanded. Lex raised an eyebrow, 'How the hell can he run as fast as an Arwing? He might have that backwards.' he thought. "Are you sure…" Lex was about to say, but Sonic already knew what he was about to ask and put a gloved white hand in front of him, "Trust me, I have handled five times the speed of that thing." Sonic said, pointing at the Arwing.

Lex then smirked, "Ok then, let's go." Lex stated. He jumped into his Arwing and then pushed a button to get it started. It soon floated in the air and then took off in a flash, but Sonic was already in front of it. 'How in the…' Lex thought. Sonic signaled something up ahead and then a face popped onto Lex's monitor. "That's the doctor's ship up ahead, I should warn you though, I wouldn't go anywhere near that base of his with that Arwing." he advised. Lex looked ahead and saw a big ship in front of him in the middle of nowhere. "Some genius he is, how do you transport a base in the middle of nowhere?" he asked with a scoff. Sonic's face appeared back onto Lex's screen, "Um… actually he never transports anything, he builds everything he has by scratch, from the guns and weapons he has, to the robots and machines that go against us." Sonic commented.

"What?!" Lex yelled out. 'How can someone build all this stuff by scratch, he has to be the biggest genius I have ever even heard of. Not even Andross has had anything done by scratch before. At least not so much.' Lex thought. Then he thought about the real danger he was in, 'Wait a sec, this guy isn't on our side though, he is the enemy, and I don't know if I can go against a pure genius. Plus he's a doctor.' Lex thought. Then he began to get mad at himself. 'Of course I can go against him, I'm a Prower. And Prower's never run away. We stand and fight.' he thought. He began to think about his parents. 'Even if it costs us our lives. We save those that we care about. Because that is the honorable way.' he thought and then began to warm up his boosters on the arwing. Either way he knew that he would have to face him to get Tails, Trixy, and Violet back. 'It's either now… or never. Genius or not, you never mess with a Prower.' Lex thought and hit his thrusters on his Grey Mist.

** To Be Continued**


	2. Negative Squad

**Mad Genius**

** Chapter Two: Negative Squad**

Lex landed his Grey Mist near the huge base that was a shuttle. He looked up at it while Sonic ran towards the gate. He tried pulling it open, but it wouldn't budge. 'There's got to be a way in. Unless he has high-tech security and stuff like that.' Lex thought. This one was definitely going to be tough. With the things he had heard about this evil doctor, he didn't want to take ANY chances. Especially since his family's lives was on the line. "We can't get in through this way; we'll have to go in the back." Sonic suggested while looking at the base for a way in. He looked back at Lex, who was still staring at the shuttle, and yelled out to him. "Yo, Lex, we need to go." Sonic shouted. Lex was knocked out of his daze and then looked at the blue hedgehog. "Right, I was just… a little amazed, that's all." Lex explained and then followed Sonic towards the back of the base. 'I hope we can find them.' Lex thought with concern. They both arrived on the side of the base while Sonic looked up at something high in the sky.

"We can get in through here. If we could just make a little hole or something…" Lex said lowly and began to think hard. Sonic smirked and looked at an area in the wall of the base. "Don't worry about it, I've got that covered." he remarked and ran towards the wall. He balled up and then began to spin; creating a buzz saw version of himself. The blue buzz saw began to cut into the wall and then created a large hole. A circle piece of the wall fell onto the ground as Sonic stood upright. "It's not the red carpet, but it'll do." Lex said and took out a scanner. He began to adjust the scanner onto his head and then turned it on. "Ok, this should tell me where exactly would Tails' DNA is in this base. I can track him with this scanner." Lex explained. They both went inside of the base and began to walk slowly down a dark corridor. Lex pulled out his Desert Eagle and looked around swiftly, waiting for something to happen. Sonic began to snicker, "Lex, you don't have to worry about any surprises, he's the type of guy to just come at you full force. He's kinda too stupid to do any stealthy stuff. It's not his style." he explained. Suddenly something hit Sonic across the head as two fat and round orange robots entered the corridor. Sonic rubbed his head and then stood back up, "Ok, I stand corrected. Damn robots." he growled.

But they were not there to try and capture Sonic, they were escorting someone. There were five figures that seemed to hide in the shadows. Suddenly when Sonic took a glimpse at them, he began to growl. 'Not these guys.' he thought. Lex began to become highly confused as his scanner beeped wildly. "It's saying that Tails is right here in front of me. But that's impossible, because I don't see him." he said. The five figures began to smile evilly as they looked at their prey. Lex leaned over to Sonic and put his hand over his mouth, "Who are these freaks?" he asked. Sonic got into a fighting position and then sighed, "The Eclipse Force." he replied. The five figures finally stepped out of the shadows, as if knowing their cue. There was a black hedgehog, a black echidna, a black fox, a black vixen, and a black female hedgehog. Just as they did this, two figures jumped inside of the base from the hole that Sonic had made. A red echidna and a pink hedgehog began running towards Sonic. "Yo Sonic, we got the message and came as fast as we…" he began to say, but then looked at the five figures. "Oh no, not these guys." he commented. 'They must be pretty tough.' Lex thought. Lex noticed something strange about the figures though.

He looked closer at one of them and then looked back at the red echidna. Lex looked at the black echidna and then back at the red one. He did these two more times around and put his hand on his head. "Hey wait a second, how come he looks like…" he pointed and began to say, but the black echidna cut him off. "Looks like Knuckles? Because, I'm his shadow." he answered and laughed. Then the black female hedgehog began to giggle, "Well, not their shadow exactly. More like their overpowered clones." she remarked. They almost sounded the same as each other as well. 'This doesn't look good.' Lex thought. He looked at the black female hedgehog and noticed she looked exactly like the pink hedgehog. 'Wait, but that means…' he began to think and looked straight at the black fox. Just as he predicted, it looked exactly like Tails. The black vixen looked exactly like Trixy as well. But the black hedgehog didn't look like Sonic, the ends of his spikes were pointing up, he had a tuff of white hair on his chest, and he had on different types of shoes. 'This is like looking into a mirror. It must be worse for Sonic and the others.' he thought. The black fox stepped forward and then smirked. "Before we begin fighting I would like to introduce my team." he said calmly.

He pointed at the black hedgehog, "As Sonic should know very well, this is Shadow the Hedgehog. He's new to the group." he said and sneered. He then pointed at the black echidna, "Knuckles should know him, this is Nightmare." he said. The black echidna smiled evilly and cracked his knuckles. He then pointed at the black female hedgehog, "This is Amy's counterpart, Midnight. She didn't keep her counterpart's trait of annoyance, and she is still reliable to the team." he pointed out. Amy clenched her fists and then shook them at the black fox. "Hey!" she shouted. Then he pointed at the black vixen and smiled, "This is Shade, something Tails will never treasure over his… Trixy." he said with disgust. And then he finally pointed at himself. "And of course, yours truly, I am Nega, the leader of the Eclipse Force. And trust me, I am much more intelligent than Tails." he remarked. Lex stepped up and pointed a finger at the black fox. "My brother can out maneuver you in machines and speed with his eyes closed!" Lex yelled. Sonic grabbed his arm and pulled him back towards the group, "What the hell are you doing?" he hissed.

Nega raised an eyebrow as Lex shook off Sonic's arm and raised his Desert Eagle at him. Sonic waved his hand in front of him, "I wouldn't recommend doing that, seriously." he warned. But Lex didn't listen; he shot the gun and waited for it to hit its target. But Nega simply moved to his right and let the bullet pass him. 'What in the…' Lex began to think, but he was too busy trying to watch Nega's movements. Nega was zooming towards Lex and ended up in front of him in two seconds. He was hit in the face and then Lex skidded on the floor and hit the wall. Lex rubbed his mouth and looked at the proud black fox that had his arms crossed. "Lucky shot." he mumbled and got back up. All of the others got into a fighting stance and was ready to fight their negative copies, but then a laser passed by all of them and they all looked into the direction it came from. They saw two robots running towards the Eclipse Force.

"The doctor has given you five strict orders to take these pests as soon as possible. You know that." one of the robots reminded in a metallic tone. Shadow just rolled his eyes as he thought about their boss's message. "Fine, we'll make this quick then. I'm sure he won't mind us at least having a little bit of fun with them." Nega commented. Amy looked at Midnight and frowned, 'I'll show that imposter what being a real being is all about.' she thought. She raised her Piko Piko Hammer and then charged at Midnight. "Wait, Amy, stop!" Sonic yelled. But she kept going and swung the mallet hard over Midnight. The mallet connected with something, but it wasn't Midnight. Lex noticed that Midnight had pulled out a mallet as well. But it wasn't the same color as Amy's; hers was completely black. The black mallet had blocked the regular mallet from hitting Midnight. She then pushed Amy away and then smiled, "Looks like you can't beat me." she said in a kiddy tone and then stuck her tongue out.

Nightmare suddenly stomped his foot forward and then pointed at Knuckles, "Let's finish this!" he shouted and then ran after him. Suddenly everyone ran after someone and got into one on one battles with their mirror images. Lex looked around and then decided to go save Tails and Trixy. He began to tiptoe past the fight when two black figures appeared in front of him. "Well, since your brother and his girlfriend aren't here, we'll just have to fight you." Nega pointed out calmly. Shade tripped Lex just as Nega jumped into the air. Lex quickly rolled out of the way as Nega's fist hit the metal floor and left an indention. 'This doctor gave them extra strength too? He must cover every flaw.' Lex thought. The two black foxes tried to attack Lex again, but Lex saw it coming. He moved out of the way from Shade's punch and grabbed her arm. He put her in a handcuff position and kicked her back to Nega, who was running at him.

The two foxes fell and then quickly got back up. "Hmph, lucky shot. It won't happen again." Nega said seriously. He tried running at Lex again, but Lex lifted his foot and hit Nega dead in the jaw. Nega slid on the metal floor and slowly got back up. He wiped the blood from his mouth and then clenched his fists, "You're going to pay for that." he said cruelly. But Lex was too busy looking at the red blood. 'How can he be bleeding, I thought he was created? Did the doctor do that much work on them? Then they might not be robots, they're probably cyborgs.' Lex thought. Suddenly Shade came up from behind and grabbed him in a bear hug. Shade began whispering something in his ear. "Don't worry; I would usually make this my last resort. But I don't mind grabbing a handsome fox." she said playfully. Lex didn't know whether to be flattered or frightened. Nega slowly walked towards the grey vulpine as he struggled to get out of Shade's grasp. 'This isn't exactly fair.' Lex thought. When Nega finally reached him he pulled out a weapon.

"Sweet dreams, Prower." he stated and shot him in the chest. It was a small tranquilizer and it instantly began to make Lex sleepy. "You… cheater…" Lex trailed off and felt his eyes drop heavily. A minute later, he was completely unconscious and Shade let go of him. He fell to the floor and Nega looked at him. "Let's take him to the cells." he ordered and grabbed the unconscious fox from the floor. 'These Prowers seem to be more stubborn than I thought. Maybe this is why the doctor put me in charge of the Eclipse Force. Knowing that I will successfully lead my team.' he thought.

Twenty minutes later, Lex woke up and noticed that he was in a cell. "Damn, I've been caught. I wonder how Sonic and the others are doing?" he asked himself. "Yeah, me too." someone said beside him. Lex looked to his right and noticed two foxes in another cell beside him; they were Tails and Trixy. "Great, you two are alive!" Lex said with joy. "Yeah, we are. I guess you were trying to save us." Trixy said lowly. Lex felt his holster and noticed that his gun wasn't there. 'Well of course it isn't, why would it be?' he thought to himself. "It's up there, on the table." someone said to his right. Lex looked onto the table and noticed his Desert Eagle and the clips to it. "Well thanks…" he began to say, and then looked at the person. It was a grey feline with royal blue eyes. Her clothes were torn and she was a little dirty, but Lex recognized her instantly. "P… Pyra?" he called out.

**To Be Continued**


	3. Brothers of War

** Mad Genius**

**Chapter Three: Brothers of War**

Lex continued to stare at Pyra and couldn't believe what he was seeing. She looked like she was beaten pretty badly and her clothes were torn in many places. Most of her shirt was missing and the only thing that covered her up was her arms and her bra. Her pants were badly cut as well. Eventually Lex glanced away from the hurt feline, but he couldn't turn away his concern. "What happened to you, Pyra?" he asked softly, a little hurt himself. By the tone in Lex's voice, there was no denying that he still loved her… and Pyra finally saw that. 'He does care for me…' she thought. She laughed nervously, "They wanted to get you. They came to your house looking for you… that grey fox… and that doctor…" she whispered. Lex turned towards her, despite the fact that she was barely wearing anything. He noticed that she was thinking hard about something, or either having a flashback.

_Earlier that day…_

Pyra looked into the mirror and looked at herself. "Ok girl, you will stop moping around and tell him that you love him. This is the chance you can't pass up. He could still love you. You are eighteen now, so it's time to go and make a choice and take a chance. Anything can happen, so you at least need to try." she said and smiled. The talk seemed to boost her self esteem and spirit. She walked out the door and walked over to Lex's house. She rang the doorbell and inhaled. 'You can do this; just tell him how you feel. It's now… or never.' she thought and exhaled. Two seconds later the door opened and a grey fox stood there in front of her, but it wasn't the handsome grey fox that she had hoped. There was another grey fox that stood at the door. He looked exactly like Tails, but his aura was a whole lot meaner. He wore a white T-shirt with a grey flak jacket over it and dark grey cargo pants. He also had grey and white sneakers instead of red and white. His eyes were also light grey.

He looked the feline up and down and then smirked. Suddenly he became serious and stopped smirking. "Where is Lex?" he asked. A flashback of her first tournament suddenly began to swim in her head. The last opponent she had faced before she had faced Lex. She began to back up slowly and then look around. Then she looked back at the grey fox in caution, getting ready to fight any second. "I don't know." she replied. He immediately became angry and pushed her, causing her to fall backwards. She didn't even realize how fast he had become over the years. "You liar! You know where he is." he shouted loudly. Before Pyra could get completely off of the ground, the grey fox stood over the grey cat. He tried to kick her, but she quickly rolled to her right and stood up in a fighting position. The grey fox raised an eyebrow and then grinned. "Ah, I remember who you are. Only a few people I know can recover quickly like that. Unfortunately, I killed all of them… except one… Pyra Christine Mind." he stated and crossed his arms. 'This doesn't seem good at all.' Pyra thought.

The grey fox suddenly ran towards Pyra and tried to punch her. She easily blocked it and pushed his hand out of the way. She didn't even recognize her own speed and moves as she began to block his attacks. "Not bad, for a champion." the grey fox remarked. Even though Pyra remembered everything from her past, it still seemed a little fresh to her. The shock gave the grey fox an advantage. Because she couldn't fully remember all of her moves at the time. He quickly kicked her in the stomach and pulled his combat knife out of a strap on is boot and then slashed at her. She moved, but the blade cut across her arm. She fell to the ground and tried to get back up, but her arm prevented it from happening. She fell back onto the ground, and then quickly rolled to get back up. The grey fox began to snicker, "So frail, I would kill you, but you are a worthy adversary. I'll just have to take you to the doctor and keep you as prisoner." he gloated. He suddenly ran up to her and then punched her in the mouth. He then began kicking her on the ground. He stopped a few minutes later as he saw the poor feline cough up blood.

The grey fox sighed, "You can never take chances with your opponents. They can have anything up their sleeve." the grey fox said to himself, as if making a point about life. For some reason, what he had said seemed logical and necessary to Pyra, like she would have done the same thing. 'Why am I thinking like this?' she thought in anguish. The grey fox squatted down towards Pyra and studied her. Strangely, he gently picked her up and began walking towards a car. Confused, Pyra looked at the grey flak jacket and saw a symbol. It was the letter "C" with a knife jammed in the opening with grey blood running down the curve. "Chaos…" she muttered before she passed out.

_Back in the cell…_

Lex looked at the poor and hurt feline and came to a conclusion. He took off his Star Fox jacket and slid it onto Pyra. After he was done, he held her close and put her head on his shoulder. Suddenly Pyra silently burst into tears. "Don't worry Pyra, I'm here… Just let it out. I won't let anything happen to you." he whispered in her ear. Pyra buried her face into Lex's chest and began sobbing uncontrollably. Too many things were flashing in her head. From the time she first met Lex at the tournament, to the fight they had on the island, and then the similar thing happened when they met again at the high school. Then she finally was thinking about the way she was being treated now. But she didn't want to think about it and she just let it all flow into and out of her mind freely. All of her thoughts that she tried time after time again to conceal and push away just broke loose and she let her mind wonder. All of the questions she asked herself flew away as if it was only water passing by. Lex embraced her tightly and he began to think deeply as well. It killed him to see the girl he loved so much go through something dramatic like this. Pyra continued to sob into Lex's chest. Lex didn't say anything; he just let her cry.

He didn't know how long he had held her in his arms, just letting Pyra cry into his chest, neither did he care. They have had a rough life together, and he could completely understand why she would break down like this. Many things were flashing through Lex's mind as well. But he knew one thing for certain; he wasn't going to let her go this time. He was going to stay with her, no matter what the cost. Pyra finally looked up into Lex's eyes; she saw the warm and loving eyes look right back at her. She understood now, no matter what they went through, they would always be there for each other. 'Lex may seem very calm and cold during war, but he always acts like a big teddy bear towards me.' she thought. She could never understand the way he had always thought about her.

Lex smiled and wiped a tear away from Pyra's cheek. Completely forgetting where she was, Pyra lunged forward at Lex's face and their lips met. Pyra was completely lost into another world. She closed her eyes and imagined they were on an island somewhere alone. Lex's shocked face didn't pass when Pyra had kissed him. But he passionately kissed back and then wrapped his arms around Pyra. Pyra wrapped her arms around Lex's neck and then guided him on top of her onto the cell floor. They finally broke apart and looked into each other's eyes. They didn't say anything, but no words were necessary. Their hearts burned for each other's and nothing was going to separate them now. Pyra and Lex smiled together as the message was clear. They both loved each other and they didn't care who saw them. Pyra began sliding off Lex's Star Fox jacket and smiled mischievously. 'Are we actually going to do this here?' Lex thought. He just shrugged his shoulders as he lowered his head and kissed Pyra again. Pyra wrapped one of her legs around Lex's waist and began rubbing herself against him. Lex responded by slowly removing her pants. Pyra desperately kicked them off as Lex kneeled up. Pyra lifted Lex's shirt over his head and then began another wave of kisses.

There was no doubt that Pyra was in heat. Felines seemed to have the most undetectable sex drive than any species, but once it was let out, it was pretty hard to stop unless satisfied. Pyra was completely in her underwear and she felt friskier than ever. Pyra began to rub her finger along Lex's chest and then she unzipped Lex's pants. Though Lex knew Pyra for being a shy cat, he kind of figured that she would have a wild side to her. Just not that wild; she didn't care if they were in a cell or at home. She thought nothing was going to stop them now from expressing their love for each other. She mouthed 'I love you.' and Lex smiled. He mouthed the same thing and then kissed her passionately again. Just as they were about to do something unforgettable, a door slammed in the room and caused both of them to jump.

"Ahem!" Tails and Dr. Eggman loudly coughed together in unison. Lex and Pyra abruptly and immediately stopped what they were doing and looked around them. Dr. Eggman was standing in front of their cell doors with an eyebrow arched and Tails was looking on with his hand over his girlfriend's eyes from the cell next to them. They began looking around them some more and noticed everyone was watching them. Lex and Pyra felt so red with embarrassment that they could easily be mistaken for Knuckle's color of fur. They quickly put their clothes back on and sat in the back of the cell together, still feeling a bit embarrassed. "Well, enough of that freak show. I'm sure you animals would have loved it though." the doctor stated as he walked towards the opposite cell. The other furries began to drool, howl, and nod. Though both Lex and Pyra wanted to both get out of the spotlight and wanted everyone to forget what had happened, the event was still fresh. They loved each other and they weren't going to separate again.

Dr. Eggman suddenly turned back around towards Lex and Pyra and then slowly turned towards Tails and Trixy. He smiled devilishly at the two and then began to chuckle, "I don't know about your brother, but you have always seemed to have some use. You have been a thorn in my side for too long and it's time I take care of you once and for all. After I take your girlfriend of course." he calmly stated. Tails' cell suddenly flew open and three guards grabbed the two-tailed fox and the vixen. "Get your hands off of me!" Trixy yelled in disgust. "Let us go!" Tails firmly demanded. But the doctor punched him in his gut and then signaled the guards to take him towards another room. "What are you going to do with him?" Lex asked bluntly. Dr. Eggman sneered, "Why I will make more drones for my chaotic negative squad and then I'll be able to dominate and rule the world!" the doctor said as if in glorious victory. He then pointed at Lex and Pyra, "And you two will do nothing to stop my plan. I will see to that. GUARDS! Take them to the Aqua Bridge room. Let's hope you can swim better than Sonic can. Oh, and I hope your burning desires won't be too much for each other. MWAHAHAHAHA!" the doctor laughed evilly and then walked out of the prison quarters.

Lex watched as seven guards opened their gate and tried to grab the two from the ground. Pyra quickly grabbed one of their heads with her two feet and twisted him around. She then stood upright and got into an offense position. "Try me." she simply stated and smirked. Four of the guards ran for her and she grabbed one of them and jumped over him. She grabbed his shoulders and twisted him around with all of her might. He violently spun until he was knocked out from the sudden jerking of his organs. 'Damn, where did she learn moves like that?' Lex thought. One of the guards tried to grab Lex's arm, but he simply punched him in his face, threw him against the wall and punched him in his stomach. The guard was instantly knocked out and he slumped onto the floor. "Still got it." he boasted and wiped his hands together. Suddenly the remaining guards pulled out a weapon of some sort and aimed it at Lex and Pyra. Lex, as a reflex, jumped in front of Pyra as one of the guards pulled the trigger. A dart hit Lex in the neck and he got back up. "Damn darts… and their… sleeping… … poison…" he muttered as he slumped to the floor. Pyra just raised her arms in disgust at what the guards had to do to get them to surrender. 'Once again Lex, you tried to protect me.' she thought.

_An hour later…_

"Lex… Lex… get up sweetie." someone whispered in his ear. Lex thought it was Pyra calling to him and he sat up, but he didn't see anyone. Suddenly he saw a figure slowly walking towards him. When it came into the light, he saw that it was a middle-aged vixen. "M… mom? Mom!" he shouted in surprise. The vixen just smiled back at him and then looked over to her right. "Lex… that girl loves you. Take real good care of her and her heart. You mean everything to that feline. Just look at her." Michelle pointed out. Lex finally looked to her right and saw Pyra standing over Lex's limp sleeping body as she continuously became frantic. Michelle looked back at Lex and then smiled again, "Now, I'm not asking, but I'm telling you son, go. Fulfill both her and your dreams. Make me proud, Lex." she stated and waved her hand. Suddenly he saw a flash of light and he felt drowsy. 'Please tell me that they used more sleeping powder instead of poison. I don't want him to die. We have had too many close calls.' Pyra thought.

"Lex… Lex… Please get up honey." Pyra called out softly. Lex groggily fluttered his eyes and looked around him. "Py… Pyra? Am I glad to see you." he said softly. Pyra hugged him tightly and sighed. 'Another fear gone, a lot more to go through.' Pyra thought. Lex looked around him and saw that they were both in a room that was filled with water; they were on a bridge that separated them from the rushing water below them. Lex quickly got up and ran towards one side of the bridge to open the door, but Pyra yelled out to him, "I already tried that, both doors are locked. Looks like we're stuck." she stated. Lex walked back slowly into the middle of the room. Suddenly he noticed that the rushing water was rapidly rising, going to their level. 'I don't remember…' he thought. Suddenly, one of the boards fell from the bridge and by instinct, Lex jumped back. Just as the board touched the water, it completely disintegrated. 'Wait a second, that's not water… That's…' Lex thought and noticed what was happening. He began kicking the door and pounding on it.

'If we don't get this door opened, then we will burn.' Lex thought. Suddenly Pyra tapped his shoulder and held something out. Lex turned around and looked at his trusty Desert Eagle and became wide-eyed. He then looked at Pyra, "How did you…" he began to ask. Pyra smiled and handed him the pistol, "While the guards were picking you up from the floor, I quickly grabbed the gun and then stuffed that and some clips into the Star Fox jacket." she explained. "Good call." he cheered and shot the door until it fell off of its hinges. 'I love the power in this gun.' Lex thought. They quickly ran out of the room and then ran through a couple of corridors. They watched out for guards, trying not to get caught in the process.

Lex looked around and found the security room. They both went inside and looked at the security cameras that were posted throughout the base. One of them showed Tails tied to a chair while Trixy was chained to the wall. A small drill was in front of Tails and it seemed he refused to talk. Countless guards were also standing above him with guns pointed to his face. But he always shook his head, as if not to answer any questions. 'I need to go save my brother. That's my job.' Lex thought. Just as he turned to go towards the room, Pyra put a hand on his shoulder. "Wait Lex, look." she stated and pointed at another camera. It showed a grey fox that looked like Tails and a black fox that looked like Tails having a heated argument. It was Chaos and Nega. 'I have a bad feeling about this. But whatever happens now…' he thought and looked at Pyra. 'I will never let her go again. That's my word and my final vow.' Lex thought and cocked his Desert Eagle.

Suddenly a black fox walked down the corridor with a device in his hand. Lex and Pyra pressed themselves against the wall so the fox couldn't see them. He was wearing a flak jacket and a pair of military boots. Dark cargo pants and a scanner on his head. He looked at the device and then pulled out a cell phone. He dialed a few numbers and then put the phone to his ear. "Bro, I have the data that you needed. With this, we can overthrow the doctor. But it's still going to be a little difficult with those Prowers snooping around. We can't let them mess up our plan." he said. "I know Edge; we have to make sure that we can make the plan go as smoothly as we need to. In the meantime, make sure that our cover in not blown." Chaos replied. "And Star Phoenix?" Edge asked. "Leave that up to Phoenix. Remember, Nomula might be watching you, so don't do anything suspicious around her." Edge nodded and then hung up the phone. He continued walking down the hall as Lex watched him leave, 'Now we have other problems, great.' he thought as he continued to think of a way to get his brother out.

**To Be Continued**


	4. Somewhere We Belong

**Mad Genius**

**Chapter Four: Somewhere We Belong**

Tails tried to get out of the ropes that tied him to the chair, but he couldn't do it. He looked over at Trixy and then noticed she was shivering. "Are you cold?" he asked softly. Trixy nodded and sighed, "Yeah, a little. Your brother must be bold to almost go through with what him and Pyra were about to do." Trixy said, a little embarrassed for the two. Tails nodded and looked back in front of him. "From what I gather, those two have been through a lot together, and I guess they were in the heat of the moment. I know for a fact that when we get out of here, those two will want some time alone together." Tails commented, blushing a little himself. Suddenly the door opened in front of them and the evil doctor himself stood in the doorway. "Enough of these games, tell me now where the Chaos Emeralds are or you will be tortured out of your damn mind." Dr. Eggman threatened, balling up his fist and shaking it at Tails. Usually Tails wouldn't worry about threats like that, but this time, he could tell the doctor wasn't joking around. By the way he emphasized everything after the demand; he could tell that his patience had run completely out.

Still, he huffed and looked away, "Not on your life." Tails remarked coolly. Dr. Eggman began growling and then hit a button on a remote he was holding. There was a low rumble and it became more violent, Dr. Eggman grinned; "How about on hers?" he asked and began to laugh. Suddenly something on the wall next to Trixy came through the metal wall. It was a small black metal rod that began to zap Trixy. She yelled out in pain as the current of electricity began to course through her body. She continuously tried to get out of her shackles that kept her on the wall, but with each movement that she made, she began to grow weaker. "Stop! Stop doing this! You said you were going to torture me! Not HER!" Tails yelled out in panic. The doctor continued to grin as he watched the poor vixen's eyes gradually close and her body began to limp. "Alright, I'll tell you. I'll…tell you where the Chaos Emeralds are." Tails mumbled and lowered his head. The doctor put a hand on his shoulder and began to chuckle, "Now see, that wasn't so hard. You Prowers sure do know when to give up for love, huh?" he asked and began to laugh.

_In another area of the base…_

Nega and the rest of the Eclipse Force were walking through a series of corridors. "Chaos is starting to get on my nerves. He wants to kill of those heroes. I have to admit, they become a big nuisance and I wouldn't mind if they were killed off. Hell, I would do it myself, but in the way he wants to kill them… that's not called for." Nega stated. "Yeah, I agree. Chaos is a bit maniacal when it comes to 'taking care' of someone." Nightmare added. "He seems to take out his opponents even before they become part of a problem." Shadow remarked. They all reached a certain door and unlocked it with a card key. All five of the furries walked in and approached a computer. For some reason, Shade began thinking about their existence, and then finally their creation. She looked over at Nega, who noticed that she had a worried look on her face. "Shade, what's wrong?" he asked. She turned to face him and sighed, "Nega… what is our objective?" she blurted out.

The random question ran through all of their minds as they thought about it. Nega put both his hands on Shade's shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Our objective is to take out Sonic and his friends and anyone else that gets into the doctor's way." he stated as if he was reading a piece of paper. After all, he had been told this objective many times, and he was taught to remember it at all costs. But something didn't feel right to Nega, it was the only time he had actually thought about his orders. Suddenly an alarm went off and the emergency lights began to flash red. "WARNING! ALL GUARDS REPORT TO THE MAIN ENTRANCE OF THE BASE! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!" an alarm droned. The Eclipse Force walked out of the room and then began walking calmly in silence to the main entrance. When they arrived, they saw the door being slammed into. 'This doesn't look good.' Shadow thought.

After a few more hits, the huge door fell to the floor and created a cloud of dust. A few seconds later, the dust cleared and a green chameleon with a golden horn looked back at the Eclipse Force. Nega raised an eyebrow as he looked at the chameleon. He was wearing a white T-shirt with a green thin jacket that was opened up and a black pair of jeans. He also had on dark green sneakers and he had dark green eyes. But what interested Nega and Shadow the most was a weird looking ring that he was wearing. It was gold mixed with silver and the stone was a light rainbow color. "Who are you?" Nega asked while crossing his arms. The chameleon looked straight at Nega, "I used to work for Andross, but I quit. He was a low-budget, lazy, stupid madman, or ape. My name is Ring, and I need to talk to Dr. Eggman." he informed.

"And your last name?" Nega asked, not really concerned. The chameleon crossed his arms, "Not going to tell you." he bluntly answered. He began walking further into the base, but then Nega suddenly appeared in his way. "I'm sorry, but we don't allow just anyone to come in unannounced to see the boss." he informed. Ring smirked, "It doesn't matter what you allow. I'm getting through." he implied seriously and continued to walk forward. Nega and the rest of the Eclipse Force became furious. 'Who is he to come in here and act like he owns everything?' Nega thought. He quickly ran towards Ring and got ready to attack him.

Suddenly Ring pointed his fist with the ring pointed at Nega. The stone began to glow and then it flashed a bright light that blinded everyone in the room. After the light dimmed, everyone began looking around. They were not in Eggman's base anymore. They were in a completely different room, probably in a different building. Nega's eyes scanned the area around them, and noticed they were in a long and white corridor. 'Where are we?' Midnight pondered. "I don't like the way this looks." Nightmare commented. Nega began walking through the corridor and looked at all of the doors. He saw one with a symbol of Dr. Eggman's mark. He studied the door and examined it, but then Shade waked to it. "What are you waiting for?" she asked and grabbed the knob. "No, wait Shade!" Nega warned. But Shade turned the knob and opened the door. There was a rushing body of water below them and Shade looked out farther and saw that there was no land at all that she could see. Suddenly something sucked her in and she lost her balance. She tripped and began to fall into the endless sea of water.

At the last second, someone grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back up. Nightmare closed the door back quickly and looked at the rest of his team. Shade looked at Nega behind her and then looked at his arms firmly around her waist. She began to blush, but she wasn't in a hurry to get out of his grip. "Thanks Nega." she said softly. Nega began to blush as well and let go of her slowly. "No problem." he replied. 'Ring is going to pay for this.' he thought angrily. They all continued to walk down the corridor while Nega continued to think about his orders. 'I'm starting to lose my edge. I can't keep thinking twice about my superior's orders. I shouldn't even be questioning his authority.' Nega thought deeply. Suddenly the corridor began to fade and disappear. Soon they realized they were back in Dr. Eggman's base. They were in the main entrance of the shuttle once again. But what caught Nega's attention was the fact that they stood a couple of yards away from where they had originally stood before. 'This chameleon doesn't blend in with the surroundings, he makes the surroundings change for him.' he observed. "This guy is dangerous; he is now a high threat. We must take him out at all costs." Nega confirmed. They began to walk towards Dr. Eggman's office. 'I'll get him this time.' Nega thought and pounded his fists together.

_In the supply room…_

A vixen with violet eyes poked her head out of the air duct from the ceiling and looked around. 'I can't believe Dr. Eggman didn't even realize that I escaped.' she thought. She saw three robot guards and then pulled out a silenced pistol. 'Good thing I took this from the armory.' she thought and aimed it at one of the robot's head. She fired the first round and hit its computer processor. It fell dead and the other two began to turn towards the direction it came from. Before they fully turned around, they suffered the same fate as the other guard and fell onto the ground with a bullet in the middle of its forehead. 'That was easy. Now, time to get out of here and find Lex. I'm sure he's here by now trying to find us.' she thought and let herself fall from the air duct. She quickly caught her balance in the air and landed on her feet softly. Though Lex was excellent in hand to hand combat and good at holding his ground against gunfire, Violet was different and loved stealth. She quietly tiptoed towards a computer and began to pull up files.

Her eyes began to instantly scan the data that was flooding the screen. "Eclipse Force, second Chaos project, Atmosphere ring? What are these studies?" she whispered to herself. "Why revolution, my dear." someone said behind her. She turned around and then saw Dr. Eggman stand in front of her with his arms crossed. "You Prowers are starting to become a big annoyance. I won't let the guards take care of you. Oh no, you just might shoot them in the head like you did the other three." he stated and pointed at the three robots on the ground. Violet looked over at it and saw a sudden electric spark from one of the robot's hole. She turned back to Dr. Eggman and laughed nervously. "I don't see what's funny, especially in your case. Ring, get in here!" he commanded. "Make sure she can't have an open casket funeral." the doctor ordered bluntly. The green chameleon walked in with a smirk on his face. "It would be my pleasure doctor to take care of this problem." Ring offered. The doctor nodded and stepped back.

He pointed the ring in front of him and the stone began to glow. There was a flash of bright light and Violet covered her eyes from the sudden flash. When the light faded, she wiped her eyes and looked around. She was in a building filled with guns. She noticed something above her that was huge. She looked closer and saw that it was a cannon with two mounted camera machine guns on each side. Suddenly the chameleon walked to the front of the room and walked onto a stage. He walked behind a podium and looked at Violet. "I found this place one time when I was escaping the law enforcement with several stolen jewels. As long as I can keep this place in my memory, I can always come here. Too bad you won't." he said and smiled evilly. He pressed a button on the podium and the cannon began to activate itself. But the two machine guns began to fire instantly. Violet backed away and began to constantly hop backwards to not get hit by the chain of bullets. 'Please tell me that this is only a mirage.' Violet thought.

The cannon finished loading and aimed at the vixen. "Preparing to fire…3…" it began to say. 'Oh crap.' Violet thought. "2…" Violet turned completely around and began to run as fast as she could to get out of the building. "1…" Violet realized she wasn't going to make it in time and then turned around to glance. "Fire!" a burst of twenty small rockets fired from the cannon and then suddenly grew into twenty huge rockets. Violet's quick agility got her to move instead of think and she dodged three rockets aiming straight for her. Another one hit the ground next to her and one exploded on the wall that was behind her. She rolled from the impact of the explosion and got up immediately. She continued running and dodged a few more rockets that were aiming straight for her. But one rocket hit the ground fifty feet away and caused Violet to fall. This was a big mistake seeing how Ring loved to play cat and mouse all the time with his opponents. He started the machine guns and they blasted at Violet. The sudden blast caught her in the leg and the arm. She was able to roll out of the gun's vision, but not fast enough to dodge it all.

She winced in pain as she looked at the blood pouring out of her arm and her leg. 'No… it won't end like this! It can't end like this…' Violet thought. "There's nowhere you can run." Ring bellowed and appeared in front of her. He kicked her in the chest and caused her to skid across the floor. She recovered from the blow and back flipped to stand back up. Ring noticed though that she was breathing heavily and that she was bleeding badly. "Ah, do you have to die this quickly? I thought you would be a challenge." he stated and aimed a gun to her face. She quickly caught the mistake and grabbed the gun from his hand. She continuously kicked him in the chest while still holding the gun. She gave one hard kick to the face and he flipped backwards and hit the floor facedown. 'I see this girl has more than what she's leading on.' he observed. He slowly got back up and then got into a fighting stance. But then he pulled out another handgun and began firing. Violet was already on the move and was looking for cover. Though she admired her brother's stamina and accuracy, she loved that she had way much quicker reflexes than he did.

She hid behind a display case of automatic rifles and bent down to get a breather. 'Man, this guy doesn't know the meaning of fair.' she thought and continued to gasp for air. She noticed that her condition wasn't getting better, it was getting worse. Ring suddenly came from the side of the display case and swung at her. Instinct once again got her to duck and he punched the glass case instead. It shattered with the guns falling to the floor with the glass. But Violet had reached her limit as she was sideswiped and roundhouse kicked into her side. She rolled onto the floor and began coughing up blood. "I knew you guys were nothing but talk. The Prowers, only a fake legend." he said and pointed a gun at Violet's head. 'I guess this is it… I'm actually going to die. I'm sorry Lex for not being there for you. I should have spent more time with you before you left to go work for Star Fox.' she thought. Ring cocked the pistol and began to pull the trigger "Well, it's been a fun ride. But here's your stop." he said and sneered.

Suddenly a bullet hit the gun and blew it out of his hand. Ring looked astonished and looked in the direction it had came from. He saw a grey fox with a grey cat next to him. "Not on your life." he growled. Violet began to smile and then looked at the expression on Ring's face. "How did you get out of the Acid Bridge? I thought Dr. Eggman told me that you were taken care of." he exclaimed. Lex smirked and then began walking towards the chameleon, "I never die unless you're there to watch me." he remarked. Ring grabbed another pistol from thin air and then pointed it at Lex. "Then I'll be glad to watch you suffer." he coldly growled. "How long has it been old friend? A year, a decade? You wouldn't know would you? After you decided to graduate high school early, things changed. But I know you wouldn't know that." Ring said while walking sideways in a big circle. Lex walked sideways as well, helping Ring create the big circle. "It depends. I have my reasons." Lex replied.

Ring pointed the gun at him again and then balled up his other fist, "You did it for that girl! Because you thought that she was a lot more important than your friends. But like I said Lex, things change." He said and began to pull the trigger. Lex was about to fire as well, but suddenly something blue zoomed by and hit the gun out of Ring's hand. "What the…" he began to say, but was hit twice in the face with a spiked glove. He flew into small steps and then put his hand on his head. He shook his head and then looked up. He saw a pink hedgehog with a mallet coming straight down on him. He opened his mouth to say something, but it was struck full force with the mallet and the surroundings around them instantly began to fade. They were back into the supply room and Ring was completely knocked out cold.

Lex picked up Violet from the ground and then saw Tails and Trixy running into the room. "Sonic got us out. The big fight distracted everyone so he freed us." Tails explained. He looked at Violet and immediately ran to her. "Violet are you ok? What happened? Can you recover?" he asked frantically. Violet just hugged Tails and held the embrace for five minutes. "I thought I was going to lose you guys forever. Thank you Lex, for saving me." Violet stated. Lex put a hand on her shoulder and smiled, "No problem." he said warmly. "Oh no, there's a big problem. You keep ruining my plans, that's the problem. Eclipse Force, get in here. Kill them all." Dr. Eggman ordered. The five shadows walked into the room and walked in front of Dr. Eggman. Nega looked at Ring knocked out and smirked, 'Serves him right for underestimating someone. You always pay the ultimate price for that.' he thought. He looked at the heroes and then at his team, and then glanced at Eggman.

"I need to take care of them once and for all. Let's take care of this problem now." he told his team and then got into a ready position. Sonic looked at them and saw the determination on their face. "This is going to be the last battle, there are no questions about it." he stated. They got into a ready stance as well and waited for the Eclipse Force to move first. Of course, they did and everyone got into a one on one fight with their counterparts. Nega flew into the air and Tails did the same thing. They began to throw punches at each other and fight for control of the air. Nightmare tried to punch Knuckles, but he moved out of the way and shoved him into a wall. He rushed for him but was caught into a standoff and they began to push forward, trying to see which was stronger. Amy and Midnight were swinging their mallets like crazy and kept crushing everything in sight. Shade and Trixy would always circle around each other and begin to box.

But Shadow and Sonic's battle was the most interesting. They were standing side by side looking at the fights. "So, is this the way it's going to end?" Sonic asked. Shadow looked at them fighting while Lex and Pyra were taking care of Violet. He then looked back at Sonic and smirked, "There is only one way to find out." he stated and suddenly boosted into the air. Sonic was already ahead of him and had wall-jumped to get into the air. 'He thinks quick, but not quick enough.' he thought. He struck Sonic in the face and he fell down. But he grabbed onto Shadow's leg and dragged him down as well. They both crashed into the ground and then quickly got back up. "This will be a fight to remember." Shadow stated. Sonic smirked, "One that will go down in history." he stated. He ran at Shadow and the after image effect showed him swinging at Shadow, but they were already on the other side of the room throwing continuous punches. Their attacks were as fast as their speed, so they could counter each other's blows. "One of us has to go down sooner or later." Sonic stated. "But it won't be soon." Shadow remarked and backed off of Sonic.

They continued fighting for ten minutes straight until they began to get tired. Shadow tried to boost into the air again, but Sonic had wall-jumped into the air. "You just never learn, do you?" Shadow asked and swung at him again. But Sonic quickly threw a couple of rings in a line that went to the side of Shadow and activated something on his shoes. Suddenly he whipped around the line picking the rings back up and he violently hit Shadow on his side. "Damn, that was a good move, didn't see that one coming." Shadow stated as he fell onto the floor and rolled onto the ground. He was knocked unconscious, but he was still breathing. Sonic walked over to Shadow's unconscious body and then smirked, "Light Dash shoes, never leave home without 'em." he said proudly. Then he turned around and noticed that everyone else was having a little trouble too in their fight. But Nega ended that quickly by pulling out a huge pistol and aiming it at the heroes. He cocked the pistol and aimed it directly at Lex. He responded quickly by aiming his Desert Eagle at him. "Do it. Kill that Prower for messing up my diabolical plans. He's been meddling way too much." Dr. Eggman ordered. Though he was thinking about his orders, he hesitated.

Dr. Eggman became furious, "What are you waiting for? Kill them already. NOW!" he yelled. Nega looked at his team and then at the doctor. Then he looked back at Lex, and then he lowered his gun. "Sorry doctor, but I don't follow your orders anymore." he stated. The doctor stomped his foot, "What?! You will listen to my commands or you will join the scrap heap." he said heatedly. One of the things that Nega never mentioned to anyone was that he could control someone's mind for one complete minute. He concentrated and looked at Ring. Then he looked at the Atmosphere ring and made Ring think about a prison. Suddenly, both the unconscious Ring and Dr. Eggman were in a cell. "What the… Hey! Get me out of here! Someone!" he yelled. Nega smiled and began walking towards the exit of the base. "Yes, that was the last battle." he remarked and looked at the heroes. "This doesn't mean we're friends, it just means we're not enemies." Nega explained and shook Tails' hand. "I'll see you around." he said and they all seemed to fade away. Lex looked on and looked at Pyra cuddled onto him, 'I'm just glad it's over, there's just a certain point that a furry can reach…' he thought.

_Back in the base…_

"Hmmm… It seems the doctor got himself into trouble. This will definitely hinder our plan, but remember, we have what we need now. The information on the Eclipse Force is ours and the data on our enemies. It seems Pyra and Lex have fully gotten their memories back. So this is very dangerous. Make sure that everything goes according to plan. Just like the prophecy said it would." Chaos said to Edge. The black fox smirked and pulled out a wristband from the Time Bounty Hunters, "You got it." he said.

**To Be Continued**


End file.
